1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display cabinets, and more particularly to display cabinets for surgical instruments or packages such as suture packages, where the cabinets are modular in construction and which may be provided with means for transporting the cabinets to and from and within surgical environments.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Display cabinets and racks for storing and displaying surgical instruments such as sutures and suture packages are well known in the art. These cabinets and racks generally comprise conventional shelving which may be separated into individual compartments and constructed as a large semi-permanent structure. Typically, the structures include a back wall which is generally positioned against a wall in either a free-standing position, or which maybe hung on the wall with mounting brackets or screws. A top wall, a bottom wall, and two side walls usually complete the structure, and numerous horizontal and vertical partitions are provided to separate the cabinet into individual compartments. The structures are very cumbersome, and are usually provided as permanent fixtures in a surgical environment.
Also known in the art are modular-type suture display and storage boxes which generally comprise a plurality of small stackable boxes which may be arranged in rows or columns either as a free-standing structure or where the individual boxes are mounted in an array on a wall as individual components. The modular structures also become semi-permanent, in that they are generally not connected to each other and, therefore, cannot be moved without risk of toppling all or part of the structure. Since the structures are impractical to move, they require positioning near the surgical location to allow access to the surgical personnel during an operation. However, this creates a crowded working environment and reduces the freedom of movement which the surgical team requires to perform most operations. Locating the suture display structures remote from the operating table necessitates a surgical team member to be designated as the messenger for retrieving the sutures, thus reducing the efficiency of the surgical team.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 259,604 and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 260,955, both to Schuler et al. disclose modular suture cabinet boxes which appear to be of the stackable type which are not interconnected to form a transportable unit. There appears to be no means for connecting individual suture boxes to adjacent boxes, other than mounting each box in an array on the wall through a plurality of holes formed in the back of the box.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,601 to Hlinsky et al. discloses a modular storage system in which two connected storage boxes are connected to each other by a hook and groove arrangement at the corner of each box. However, each box shares at least one wall with its adjacent boxes, so that individual boxes cannot stand alone. Furthermore, a drawer system is provided to create a closed storage system. Furthermore, the system does not appear to be portable, in that there are no means to move the connected boxes from place to place.
Modular storage and display racks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,763 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,553 to Franklin et al. These patents disclose display racks having a box-like outer container which is provided with a plurality of horizontal shelves and vertical partitions. These outer boxes are then stacked together in an upright free-standing display rack, with the boxes being connected only by the rack itself and not to each other. The racks do not appear to be portable, and are apparently constructed for displaying items in supermarkets or department stores.